The earth has a long life history of 3.8 billion years. In such a long time, life has gradually evolved from the most primitive simple life to complex life and advanced life. And one of the most important goals of life evolution is to grow into intelligent life. Life on earth completed this important mission millions of years ago.
Human beings were born millions of years ago, and human civilization was formed 10,000 years ago. Although human civilization did not exist for a long time, after rapid development, it finally entered the age of science and technology hundreds of years ago. The advent of the era of science and technology has also brought human civilization into a new era. The power of science and technology is infinite, and it can help us explore the truth of the world and explore the history of the earth.
We all know that time cannot go back. What happened to the earth during its long life? How did life evolve? How did human ancestors be born and evolved? All of this is impossible for us to go back to the past and explore the truth.
If it were before human beings entered the age of technology, we would not be able to crack all of these mysteries, but with the help of technology, we might continue to uncover the history of the earth. Of course, science and technology are not omnipotent. One important reason why we can explore the history of the earth through the power of science and technology is that the history of the earth cannot completely disappear. It will leave some traces in many places.
Through these traces, we will know what happened to the earth and what happened to life? For example, there have been five mass extinction events on the earth. We have reached conclusions through geological exploration and exploration of biological fossils. The reason why we know that there was a glorious dinosaur era 65 million years ago is because we have discovered a large number of dinosaur fossils all over the world. Through these fossils, we know that before the birth of human beings, there existed an age of dinosaurs on the earth.
So someone asked the question: if humans disappeared, after hundreds of millions of years, can new civilizations find traces of human existence? Different people may have different opinions on this issue. Some people believe that a long period of hundreds of millions of years can erase all traces of human existence.
Some people also believe that human beings are technological civilizations, and some technological species cannot be erased by the years. The newly born civilization can discover the prehistoric civilization of human beings. So what is the truth? Today we will discuss it together. We don’t have to doubt the power of time. In the earth’s long history of 4.6 billion years, different eras have existed, but the traces of these eras were basically erased by the years.
Time is the best way to eliminate traces. As long as the time is long enough, no traces of civilization will remain. I believe many friends know that the life history of the earth explored and studied by scientists is basically concentrated in less than 300 million years. But we all know that the life history of the earth is billions of years. Why can’t the life history of 300 million years ago be explored and studied? The reason is that the fossil traces they have existed have been erased by the years.
Of course, human beings are now a powerful scientific and technological civilization, and the power of science and technology is beyond our imagination. If human beings are now scientific and technological strength, even if human beings disappear, hundreds of millions of years later, there will still be three things left behind to give birth to a new one. Discovery of civilization. So what are these three things?
The first type: human fossils. Fossils can be said to be the best storage of life. As long as all kinds of life have appeared in the history of life on the earth, even if they later become extinct due to environmental changes, there is a high probability that some fossils will remain. Scientists research and explore life history, basically through the discovery of various biological fossils.
Of course, biological fossils cannot be preserved indefinitely. Their retention time is only hundreds of millions of years. Once this time is exceeded, they will basically be erased by the years. The main reason why we have been able to find a large number of dinosaur fossils is that the age of its extinction is not too far away from us. If hundreds of millions of years pass, dinosaur fossils may basically disappear.
Through the large number of dinosaur fossils discovered, we can imagine how brilliant it was in the age of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. How large is the distribution of dinosaurs in the world. Through the age of dinosaurs, we also understand that the birth of mankind is really lucky. If it were not for the asteroid’s impact on the earth that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, then mammals would not rise, and without the rise of mammals, humans would not be born.
Scientists have also discovered various giant insect fossils on the earth. Through them, we know that the earth was ruled by insects before the dinosaurs did not dominate the earth 234 million years ago. If it were not for the discovery of these giant insect fossils, I believe no one would have imagined that in the eyes of modern people, very small insects were once the overlord of the earth 2.34 years ago.
This shows that fossils can tell a lot of things to future generations. Human beings are now the overlord of the earth, the number has reached 7 billion, and they are spread all over the world. Even if we disappear in the future, human fossils can still be preserved. After hundreds of millions of years, they will be discovered by new civilizations, so they know that before their birth, the earth still There has been a powerful scientific and technological civilization of mankind.
The second type: man-made objects under the ground. Human beings are now in the age of science and technology, and there is a big difference between technological creation and natural creation. Most of the natural creations are difficult to resist the erasure of the years, but the technological creations are different, and they can resist the years for a very long time.
Of course, after the disappearance of human beings, although the technological objects remaining on the surface can exist for a long time, under the erosion of time, after hundreds of millions of years, they will completely disappear without any traces. And we are not talking about these scientific and technological objects on the surface, but those that have sunk into the depths of the earth due to geological activities.
Apart from fossils, the other way to preserve traces of historical civilization is powerful geology. As long as the man-made object sinks into the depths of the ground and cuts off the air and sunlight, it can be stored for a very long time. And some special geological structures can keep man-made objects for hundreds of millions of years.
Scientists understand the history of the earth. In addition to fossils, it is more important to study and explore geological structures. Many of the geological structures under the ground were formed hundreds of millions of years ago. They show us that the earth has ever happened. Some major events in the country. For example, the earth did not have six major plates hundreds of millions of years ago, but was just one continent.
Later, this supercontinent split, volcanoes erupted, and a rain that lasted for millions of years wiped out more than 80% of living things. This huge geological change cannot be preserved on the surface, but through the underground geological structure, it clearly tells us that this huge plate change occurred hundreds of millions of years ago.
If mankind disappears, then some man-made objects in human civilization, scientific and technological creations will be preserved in the depths of the earth along with geological activities, waiting for the exploration and discovery of new civilizations in the future. This preservation time can range from tens of millions of years to hundreds of millions of years. After the new civilization enters the age of science and technology, it will be able to discover some technological creations left by human beings deep underground.
The third type: uranium. I believe many friends know that uranium is an important raw material for nuclear energy. The special thing about uranium is that its half-life is very long, which can be as long as billions of years. If after the disappearance of human beings, new intelligent life will be born billions of years later, then the human fossils in front and the man-made objects deep in the ground will most likely be completely erased by the years. It is basically impossible for a new civilization to know through the above two methods. The existence of human beings.
But uranium is different. Its half-life is too long. After human beings entered the age of science and technology, more and more uranium was developed and utilized. All kinds of uranium mines will still exist even after humans disappear. As long as the new civilization enters the technological age without exceeding the half-life of uranium, it is not difficult to find traces of human exploitation and utilization of uranium.
Scientists once discovered an abandoned nuclear reactor in Africa that has existed for 2 billion years. This nuclear reactor existed 2 billion years ago. Because of its half-life as long as billions of years, it still exists today. However, the scientific community does not have a unified answer as to whether this ancient nuclear reactor was man-made or formed naturally.
Because theoretically speaking, there is a certain probability that uranium-rich mining areas can form natural nuclear reactors. Therefore, billions of years after the disappearance of mankind, even if a new civilization discovers an ancient nuclear reactor used by mankind, the same question may arise: Is it man-made or formed naturally?
In any case, the current human civilization has entered a glorious era of science and technology. Even if the future disappears, the traces of the existence of human civilization cannot be completely erased by time. Even after hundreds of millions of years, billions of years, as long as a new civilization enters the age of science and technology, the prehistoric civilization of mankind can still be discovered.